Durability of rod end spherical bearings?

[PeterAllen]

Many moons ago I did a bit of open-wheeler racing and we used to go through ‘Rose’ joints like cans of KB. I’m keen to fit some non-Datsun lower control arms (LCAs) on the GTO but the only after-market LCAs are all fitted with rod end beaings. Great for adjustment but are they still high-maintenance, i.e. replacement, items they used to be?

[Zedn]

Hi Peter,

These are used a fair bit on clubbies. If you sign up to ozclubbies.com.au you will find a lot of experience on this there. I have heard some people say they dont comply and others say they do. You should check with your engineer if these are acceptable.

Have you thought about fabricating your own arms and using some nolothane bushes? The build your own sports car book has some good guidance on fabricating a jig and building your own arms

[gjkrv8]

I have spherical rod ends on my upper A arm on the front of my Classic Revival. My original rod ends lasted 11000 Kim's. I replaced them with Kevlar impregnated QA1 variety. Hope they last longer. Cheers Gregg

[Aussie Mike]

I like the XM series QA1 rod ends. They are chrome molly for good strength. The bearing surfaces are metal metal so they don't pound out like varieties that run a teflon liner. They ar not crimped closed like some. There is no way for the ball to come out unless it's twisted to the right position which cant be done if it's bolted in place so side to side loading strength is very good. They are self sealing/lubricating because they are filled with a nylon teflon composite.

The prices are also good which makes them good value for money.

XM Series Chromoly Steel | QA1

[Modena]

I had concerns similar to Gregg with my swaged QA1 rod ends, they are brand new and have perceptible play in them, it would be less than 1mm but is perceptible by hand, I guess this is due to the way they are made.

Upgraded to the XM's, lovely units, just need to be careful with fitment to the application as they are quite a bit more chunky than the swaged units;

I bought mine for about $85 a pair from Speedway Australia (Ph 03 59 444 777), they were extremely helpful, would not hesitate to go back for other stuff.

[Aussie Mike]

I went overkill on the rod ends on the rear arms. I prefer to over engineer stuff as it gives a bit more piece of mind when your life may be depending on it.

I used the XM series rod ends on the connections to the uprights and urethane bushes on the chassis ends. The rod end on the bottom arm is a monster, one of the bigger ones in the series. It has a 7/8" UNF shank but the ball has a 3/4" hole. The comparitavely smaller ball means there is a heap more material around it holding it in place making it even stronger. The bolt through the upright is only 14mm from memory So I've machined a pair of spacers that also step the bore down to the right size. I could have gone smaller and saved a bit of weight but I'd already removed more than 20KG of weight going from cast arms to tubular.